measure your happiness + vineyards in vienna

instead of IQ tests, spend some time on this research from the University of Pennsylvannia
www.authentichappiness.org


and here are some funny pictures I took of Vienna, which I don't remember if I posted before or not!

here it goes!!!

Salvador, BH, Brazil, 24 December

Salvador da Baía

Medecins Sans Frontieres

The Médecins Sans Frontières also known as Doctors Without Borders is one of the noblest and most active non-governmental organizations that exist today.
Transition sentence: The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was established in the early 70’s after the merging of two already existing Organizations: "Emergency Medical and Surgical Intervention Group" and the "French Medical Relief".

Reasons:
a. The MSF are lifesavers that have worked several times in countries at war, even when under fire.
b. Their intervention in emergencies is very fast, and they also make long-term missions in countries in need of help.
c. The MSF are also active in the western countries appealing for action and denouncing genocides and abuses, for example.

a: Arguments: The MSF intervene whenever it is necessary, no matter where they have to take action, or who is in need of help. The most admiring interventions are those when exposed to hostile fire in war zones.
Example: They’re efforts in Sudan for more than 25 years now, set a good example. The MSF have witnessed the civil war, civilian massacres but they continued their voluntary work even after several arrests of volunteers
b: Arguments: The MSF are capable of fast interventions just when the situation can be most critical. They help victims of natural disasters by providing clean water and medical aid.
Example: They create refugee camps like those in Thailand, after the immigration of millions of Cambodians to the country, and the MSF stay as long as necessary, just until the country’s healthcare system is reconstructed and capable of handling the victims.
c: Arguments: The MSF not only want to provide with essential care for the wounded or the famine, it is also important to emphasize the victim’s rights and awake the world’s awareness to ongoing critical situations in several countries, if possible.
Example: The MSF has been responsible for the denunciation of the abuse of international aid in Ethiopia after a famine crisis during the 80’s. After this the MSF were expelled and were prevented from continuing their aid.


Information taken out of Wikipedia
Official Website www.msf.org

Kicking the Cat!

Interview made by Stewart Brand to Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead - originally published in the CoEvolutionary Quarterly, June 1976, Issue no. 10, pp. 32-44.
This is only a fragment, the rest of the interview can be found at - For God's Sake Margaret! -

Bateson: ...Well, it [the camera] should be off the tripod.

Mead: So you run around.

B: Yes.

M: And therefore you've introduced a variation into it that is unnecessary.

B: I therefore got the information out that I thought was relevant at the time.

M: That's right. And therefore what do you see later?

B: If you put the damn thing on a tripod, you don't get any relevance.

M: No, you get what happened.

B: It isn't what happened.

M: I don't want people leaping around thinking that a profile at this moment would be beautiful.

B: I wouldn't want beautiful.

M: Well, what's the leaping around for?

B: To get what's happening.

M: What you think is happening.

B: If Stewart reached behind his back to scratch himself, I would like to be over there at that moment.

M: If you were over there at that moment you wouldn't see him kicking the cat under the table. So that just doesn't hold as an argument.

B: Of the things that happen the camera is only going to record one percent anyway.

M: That's right.